Over recent years upright vacuum cleaners have enjoyed ever-increasing popularity. Upright vacuum cleaners generally incorporate a nozzle assembly which rides on wheels over the floor surface to be cleaned. A canister assembly is pivotally mounted to the nozzle assembly. The canister assembly includes an operating handle that is manipulated by an operator to move the vacuum cleaner back and forth across the floor. The canister assembly also includes either a bag-like filter or a cyclonic separation chamber and filter combination that traps dirt and debris while substantially clean air is exhausted by a fan that is driven by an onboard electric motor. It is this fan and motor arrangement that generates the drop in air pressure necessary to provide the desired cleaning action.
In most upright vacuum cleaners sold today, a rotary agitator is provided in the main inlet cavity of the nozzle assembly. The rotary agitator includes tufts of bristles, brushes, beater bars or the like to beat dirt and debris from the nap of a carpet being cleaned while the pressure drop or vacuum is used to force air entrained with this dirt and debris into the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner. Generally, the rotary agitator is mounted transversely across the nozzle assembly and is supported on bearings at each end.
While a number of arrangements are utilized, it should be appreciated that the sidewalls of the nozzle adjacent the ends of the rotary agitator must incorporate some structural reinforcement to properly hold the agitator in position. As a result, there is not only a gap between the lateral ends of the rotary agitator and the sidewalls of the nozzle assembly but also generally a gap between the main inlet cavity and the outer edge of the sidewalls. Thus, with each passage of the nozzle assembly a narrow strip of underlying floor along each side of the nozzle assembly is not subjected to effective cleaning. Since dirt has a tendency to collect in the corner where the floor meets a wall along a baseboard and/or toestrip, ineffective edge cleaning along the sidewall of a nozzle assembly can be a serious problem that frustrates a vacuum cleaner user. The present invention is directed to a vacuum cleaner that very effectively addresses and resolves this problem.